Imaginary
by MPHknows
Summary: Maximum Ride and her friends say the poem, landing themselves in a world that Max once knew but can't remember. Idea came from the song Imaginary by Evnescence. Rated T for swearing and violence. Fax Liggy Naidan and Loup/Lobo Read and Review
1. Prologue

**Imaginary**

Prologue

Maximum Ride walked into her room, throwing her schoolbag onto her bed and gesturing for her friends, Iggy, Nudge, and Loup, to sit down. She wanted to show them something she found when she was going through her closet the other day.

First, she pulled out the map. It must've been drawn by herself when she was younger, maybe thirteen or fourteen, but her eighteen year old self couldn't remember drawing anything so… creative. With ever region of the map, there was a picture. And each picture looked like a different part of a story.

There was also a poem for each one, with slight directions here and there. Max handed the large map to Loup and began to pull the small chest down. It was no bigger than a foot long, wide, and tall and was made out of nice mahogany wood with forest green paint making swirls and multiple designs around it.

They all sat down in the middle of my floor, making a circle as Loup stared at the map. Max opened the chest, looking inside at the cursive writing on the bottom in black. It read **Imaginary**, and she had a feeling that it had more than the meaning we all knew.

"Look," Loup said, laying the map down and pointing to the very top. Written there was some instructions, followed by a short poem. Nudge began to read the dark words at the beginning.

"**To find yourself in the land of dreams, you must read out loud equally."**

"What do you think that means?" Iggy asked, looking at the poem that followed.

"I think it means we're supposed to split the poem equally among us," Loup began, "And then read it out loud."

"If we do that, what do you think is going to happen?" Max asked.

"How should we know?" Nudge replied, "This is your stuff."

Max shrugged and Iggy sighed, "Let's just try it and see what does happen."

"Okay," Loup said energetically. "Max, you start and we'll go counterclockwise."

And so Max began.

**(Max, **_Loup, _Iggy, Nudge)

**In my field of paper flowers**

_And candy clouds of lullaby_

I lie inside myself for hours

And watch my purple sky fly over me

With that, all four of them and the map were sucked into the chest.


	2. Chapter One

**Imaginary**

Chapter One

_Max_

With a green flash of light, I landed on my stomach and heard something crunch beneath me. I sat up, trying to fill my lungs which had been emptied when I landed. I hadn't looked around yet, only noticing that, wherever I was, it smelled like a newly bought notebook.

"Where are we?" I heard Iggy, who was standing up a few feet away from me, ask.

I started to stand up myself, when I heard another crunch. I looked down and saw that we were amongst a bunch of paper sticking out of the ground. When I looked closer, I saw that they were perfectly formed to look like flowers, even some rose-bud-looking ones were opening and closing before our eyes.

Loup was sitting with the map folded on her lap, looking around at the flowers in amazement. "They're so gorgeous," she whispered, reaching out to stroke a purple paper tulip.

"I know!" Nudge exclaimed, spinning in a circle where she was standing a few yards away from Iggy. "I love how some are colored and some aren't. And how they seem to be alive! Do you think this is it? Just this field?"

I walked over to Loup, tugging her long naturally bleach blond ponytail to get her attention. "Open the map," I ordered, sitting down next to her, trying not to sit on too many flowers.

She pulled it open gently and looked at the almost all black and white map. Why I say almost is because a large piece of it in the top right-hand corner was now green where there wasn't a drawing and the picture was now filling out in color.

The drawing took place in the field. There was a large dark blue overgrown paper flower that looked like it was beginning to open, four people around the age of fourteen standing in front of it with their backs turned to the drawer.

The only girl had long dirty blond hair tied up in a high ponytail with a dark green ribbon and was the shortest of them all, but was still tall for her age. She was wearing dark jean shorts, a black tank top, and had a gleaming sword holstered on her left hip.

The tallest of the boys, about a foot taller than the girl, was standing on one side of her and had cropped short dirty blond hair and amazing biceps you could see easily because of his grey muscle tank. He was also wearing ripped jeans and had a hatchet hooked to his left hip by his belt loop. His head was turned to the side just enough to see a bit of the beginning of his right jaw line and the golden ring on the top of his right ear.

The lankiest boy was standing farthest away from the tallest, an inch or two shorter than him, and had literally red hair that went halfway down his neck and nicely tan skin darker than the others. He was wearing a red t-shirt, black basketball shorts, and was using a spear as a walking stick. His head was turned to the left so that you could see his profile. He had an angular jaw, slightly pointed chin, a nice nose that wasn't too big or too small, and faded red eyes.

The boy standing between the girl and the redhead was shorter than the redhead by about an inch and a half but had muscles somewhere between the two other boys. He had a mop of perfectly messy black hair that reached the bottom of his neck, angling so that it reached it at a point, and had smooth-looking olive skin. From what you could see, he was wearing a black cloak, had a metallic crown sitting atop his head, and also had what looked like a black broadsword holster on his left hip.

"Wow," Nudge said, making me jump for I hadn't noticed her and Iggy had joined Loup and I.

Iggy pointed at the gigantic flower, "I wonder why that disappeared."

"Uh… I don't think it did," Loup muttered, pointing out in front of us.

There, quite a bit of length away from us, was a huge dark blue bud of a flower that looked like it was struggling to open. Eventually, after we had all stood, the petals did begin to part and open. And, as the majestic purple sky darkened, we all heard the raspy voice.

"Maximum? You've finally returned? Good… I've been waiting for you."


	3. Chapter Two

**Imaginary**

Chapter Two

_Max_

My eyes were wide as the flower continued to move. Long metallic claws reached out of the flower petals and scraped against the side as whatever was inside pushed the petals apart. A dark blue, scaled snout barely showed itself from inside the flower bud.

"Wh-what are you?" I asked, stuttering over my words as this creature stayed secluded in its home.

"Oh, Maximum." As it talked, we could see the rows of sharp, yellow fangs and forked tongue that flicked with every word. "Can you not remember me?"

The snout moved out a bit farther, the creature breathing in deeply before letting it out in a rush. I felt one of the other girls clutch my arm, but couldn't look away from the creature to see which one.

"Maximum," the creature continued, its snout turning towards us slightly so we could barely make out a striking black eye. "Who are your friends?"

"How-how do you know my name?" I asked, my voice trembling like the rest of my body.

The creature seemed to chuckle, clutching the large petal with its claws and letting out quick huffs of air before talking. "Let us ignore those trivial questions, Maximum, and answer the ones that you know the answer to."

"So, you're pretty much the only one allowed to ask the questions?" Iggy's voice was calm and strong, though I could guess that he wasn't feeling that way.

The creature chuckled once more, "For now."

"Fine then," Iggy replied, "My name is Iggy Griffiths."

"Hm," the creature hummed, "What about you, darker than the rest?"

The hand on my arm squeezed tighter, making me realize it was Nudge. It was confirmed when her voice came out softly beside me, "Krystal Lupus, but I go by Nudge."

"Krystal," the creature spoke, letting her name roll of its tongue like it was a name he had never heard before. "One unique like many." It chuckled again, "If that doesn't confuse you than you are smarter than you look. Speaking of smart, Map Holder, what is your name?"

Loup, who had the map opened and was looking at it intently, jumped when Iggy poked her side. "Huh? Oh! My name is Loup Lupus. My mother adopted Nudge when she was much younger."

The creature smiled, now showing its full, lizard like head. "Sisters, then? Wonderful. I'm glad Maximum has some friends with her this time."

Iggy looked at me quizzically, "You've been here before?"

"Of course she has," The creature said, smiling at me in a comforting manner.

"I have?" I asked. This place _was_ familiar, but I couldn't remember ever being here.

The creature nodded, "Yes, you have. Speaking of which, when you see your friend, the prince, again, can you tell him I'd like to ask him something?"

My eyebrows creased as I wondered who this prince was, "Sure?"

The creature nodded, "Thank you, Maximum. Now, I must go back to resting." The creature turned beginning to let the petals close.

"Wait!" I called, making the creature turn and cock his head to one side in question. "What's your name?"

"You may call me Slytherbite."

"Will you answer our questions, Slytherbite?" I asked hopefully.

He sighed, looking down at the paper flowers that surrounded his larger, more detailed one, "I'm sorry, Maximum, you will have to remember on your own." With that, he let the petals close and the dark blue paper flower began to sink back into the ground.

"Well," Iggy let out an aggravated sigh, "That was loads of help."

Nudge and I nodded in agreement, but Loup just had a sparkling grin on her face, "Actually, he did."

"How?" Nudge asked, being quieter than her regular self. Though, with what just happened, I couldn't blame her.

"The prince," Loup answered simply, unfolding the map. "Okay, we're here in Knowing Field." She said, pointing at the upper right-hand corner. My eyes were drawn to the picture again, more specifically the boy with the crown. He seemed so familiar, they all did, but I just couldn't remember where I had seen them.

Maybe I had been here before.

"Maybe," Loup continued, "If we find the prince, we can pass on the message and he might explain what's going on. Slytherbite said that you knew him, so maybe he remembers you."

"Even if he does," Nudge asked, looking at the map over Loup's shoulder, "how are we even going to find him? It's not like there's a big path that has a sign that says 'Prince this way'."

"And," Iggy said, "it looks like there are pictures for each place like for this one, but they're scribbled out."

I looked at the map and realized he was right, "Maybe we have to go to that place before the picture shows up."

"That," Nudge sighed, "Or someone ruined your map."

"Either way," Loup interrupted, "I bet he stays here." She pointed to the bottom left corner where _**Blaze Kingdom**_ scrawled out in perfect black cursive writing. "He is a prince, after all."

"So," Iggy sighed, pacing in front of us, "We got sucked into this… _place_, talked to a lizard creature named _Slytherbite_, and now we're heading off to find some prince that Max somehow knows but can't remember?"

Loup nodded, "Pretty much."

Iggy thought for a moment, freezing in mid-pace, and then turned to us with a smile, "This sure beat the hell out of my weekend plans."


	4. Chapter Three

**Imaginary**

Chapter Three

_Loup_

Iggy sighed as we walked, "Wait, didn't you say there were directions? Or, maybe a map key telling us where north or south-west is?"

As soon as he said the word 'directions', my eyes widened. I opened the map again, looking for all the words that had originally filled all the space where there weren't pictures. "Where are they? They were just right here!"

Nudge put her hands on my shoulders, making me look at her, "It's okay, we've already come up with a plan."

"Though," Max interrupted, "We do kind of need to know which way is which."

I sighed, "I know, but there's no map key."

"What do we do then?" Nudge asked, slouching a bit.

Iggy scratched his chin, "I say we just head in one direction and see what clears itself on the map, then we'll know which direction we'll be going."

Max's eyes widened and she leaned back slightly as she looked at him, "Smart idea."

"You surprised?" Iggy asked, crossing his arms. "You really shouldn't underestimate me, Maximum."

Max huffed, "Whatever. I just want to know what's going on here."

I whistled, breaking up their conversation, "We all want to know what's going on. Can we just get moving, now?"

Nudge nodded enthusiastically, turning and marching off in a random direction. Max, Iggy, and I looked at each other before shrugging and following her.

*An Hour Later*

"Has anything changed on the map, yet?" Iggy groaned, pushing Max as she leaned on his shoulder while walking. I stopped walking, unfolding the map and holding it at arm's length from me.

"Nothing," I sighed, folding the map back up.

"I bet," Nudge spoke up, "that when the flowers change and aren't _paper_ anymore, they map will have changed."

Max walked forward, putting an arm around Nudge's shoulders, "I thought you liked the flowers?"

"After you see something for a long time, it gets annoying," I answered for her, continuing to walk.

"Speaking of the scenery changing," Iggy said, pointing way in front of us. "I think I see something."

"YES!" Nudge shouted, running ahead of us, Max and Iggy following quickly. I huffed, putting the map under my arm before bolting, full speed, towards what Iggy had been pointing at.

Once I reached it, my eyes were wide as dinner plates as I stared straight up. "What the Spanish creampuffs?"

The tower stood taller than I could imagine, large white bricks spanning a good length around, only parting for window-like openings and a wooden door. Nudge huffed next to me, "Spanish creampuffs?"

I shrugged, "I spend time at the daycare with little ones, it's best if you don't cuss in front of three year olds."

Max laughed, relief seeming to get the best of her as she looked at the tower. "Do you think anyone's in there?"

Iggy leaned closer to her, speaking without taking his eyes off the tower, "I'd be wondering _what's_ in there. And if it's going to eat us."

Nudge and Max looked at him in slight disbelief while I just shrugged and nodded in agreement. As they began to discuss Iggy's comment, I unfolded the map. Deciding to let my arms relax some, I laid the map out on the ground. That's when I noticed-

"Guys," I interrupted them, "the grass is white here."

Max looked over her shoulder and down at the ground, "Cool." Then she turned back to her heated argument about cannibalistic geese with Iggy (?).

Nudge rolled her eyes, walking over before dropping onto her knees next to me. On the left side of the Knowing Field, glowing a brighter white than it was before, was _Bright Hills_.

_How convenient, _I thought sarcastically. I scratched my forehead as I looked at the picture for this place. Two boys were standing on a large hill, one, the prince, had been in the picture for the field. The other had perfect blond hair and was holding a sword pointed at the prince. The prince had his own sword out, the black blade glistening.

"What do you think that swords made out of?" Nudge asked, pointing at it.

"Obsidian, maybe."

Iggy plopped down on the other side of me, "What's obsidian?"

"Black volcanic glass," I answered, swerving my head to look for Max. She stood a few feet away looking straight ahead at the tower. "Max? What're you looking at?"

I trailed off as I noticed something. Something, as in the blond guy who was in the picture standing in the tower doorway, a glowing white crown on top of his head.


	5. Sorry

Sorry, but I have way too many fanfics to try and hold up. These are ones that I either have lost interest in or just... can't right for them anymore due to other reasons I'd rather not express. They will either stay on permanent hiatus or someone will need to adopt them. I only have a few set rules and that is to keep the pairings I originally had planned and to keep at least close to whatever plot I may have had (though most of these I was kinda just rolling towards a main idea with no actual plan)

Just review and tell me which one you want (which will probably which ever one you're reading this on, but I will still provide a list below) and I will give you said info above.

Darkening Abyss (I know, sad cause I'll admit I'm pretty good a suspense. But, mentally, I just couldn't keep up with this story. I was creeping myself out and its not even haunted or murder or anything as bad as that)

Imaginary (I didn't really have a plan for this one... only pairings and a cool world)

National Secret (this goes to whoever has a copy of National Treasure. The only reason I cant continue it is because they took it off youtube)

Two I'm contemplating but am not sure about are Mixed Love Story and Who's For Whom. These were really just there to please readers and I just... I like the ideas but I'll probably not be getting to them anytime soon. I have nothing for Who's For Whom except pairings and basically the same with Mixed Love Story.

Forever (well, maybe not forever if you wont read my others I'm keeping) Your Author,

MPHknows


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